Information providing device, information providing method, and recording medium

ABSTRACT

An information providing device presenting a first and a second word respectively extracted from a first and a second word group includes: a first and a second memory unit respectively storing the first and the second word group; a word extraction unit extracting a word from the second word group as the second word; a sound collection unit collecting a voice signal; and a voice recognition unit performing voice recognition on the collected voice signal, wherein the first memory unit stores a word group of a discussion theme in the first word group; the second memory unit stores a word group corresponding to the first word in the second word group, and the word extraction unit stores a new word in the second word group based on a voice recognition result of content spoken by a speaker at a meeting where the first word and the second word are presented.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the priority benefit of Japan Application No.2018-069466, filed on Mar. 30, 2018. The entirety of the above-mentionedpatent application is hereby incorporated by reference herein and made apart of this specification.

BACKGROUND Technical Field

The disclosure relates to an information providing device, aninformation providing method, and a recording medium.

Related Art

Inventors have proposed an idea assistance device capable of inspiring auser's idea and leading to a new idea by combining a first word input bythe user with a randomly extracted second word and providing thecombination to the user in order to bring inspiration to mind (e.g., seeJapanese Patent Application No. 2017-157611). Upon bringing inspirationto mind, it is expected that efficient ideas will come out.

In addition, there is known a technique of extracting characteristicsrelating to a learner's learning based on a result of answers to a testor the like. In a general school's teaching style, a lecturer graspsstudents' degree of comprehension and so on by a desk patrol around thestudents. However, in this form, the number of students that onelecturer can check at a time is limited, and it is difficult toaccurately and promptly grasp each student's degree of comprehension andso on. Hence, it has been proposed (e.g., see Japanese Laid-open No.2015-161892 (Patent Document 1)) that in the case where a student hasentered an answer to a question in an answer column with an electronicpen system, an analyzer determines the degree of comprehension of thestudent who entered the answer or a degree of difficulty of the questionbased on entry information showing the student's handwriting. In thetechnique described in Patent Document 1, a track from a pen-down inwhich an electronic pen contacts the answer column until a pen-up inwhich the electronic pen leaves the answer column is detected as strokeinformation. In the technique described in Patent Document 1, based onthis stroke information, number of strokes per question, answer time,stroke length, area of an entry area within an answer sheet, writingpressure, distance between strokes, direction of entry, distribution ofstrokes and so on are recognized. Furthermore, in the techniquedescribed in Patent Document 1, based on the recognized information, thestudent's state, such as whether the student is concentrating,stumbling, inspired, or whether group work is going well, is detected.Moreover, in the technique described in Patent Document 1, in the casewhere a rate of increase in the number of strokes per unit time exceedsa predetermined value, it is determined that the student has aninspiration.

However, with the technique described in Patent Document 1, it is onlydetecting whether there was an inspiration based on the stroke of theelectronic pen, and it is impossible to assist in creating user'sinspiration.

The disclosure provides an information providing device, an informationproviding method, and a program, capable of assisting in creating user'sinspiration and improving efficiency in creating inspiration.

SUMMARY

(1) An information providing device (1) according to an aspect of thedisclosure is an information providing device presenting a first wordextracted from a first word group and a second word extracted from asecond word group. The information providing device includes: a firstmemory unit (101) storing the first word group; a second memory unit(103) storing the second word group; a word extraction unit (second wordextraction unit 104) extracting a word from the second word group as thesecond word; a sound collection unit (22) collecting a voice signal; anda voice recognition unit (109) performing voice recognition on thecollected voice signal, wherein the first memory unit stores a wordgroup of a discussion theme in the first word group; the second memoryunit stores a word group corresponding to the first word in the secondword group; and the word extraction unit stores a new word in the secondword group based on a result of voice recognition of content spoken by aspeaker at a meeting at which the first word and the second word arepresented.

(2) An information providing method according to an aspect of thedisclosure is an information providing method in an informationproviding device. The information providing device has a first memoryunit storing a first word group composed of at least one first word, asecond memory unit storing a second word group, a sound collection unit,and a voice recognition unit recognizing a collected voice signal,wherein the first memory unit stores a word group of a discussion themein the first word group, the second memory unit stores a word groupcorresponding to the first word in the second word group, and theinformation providing device presents the first word extracted from thefirst word group and a second word extracted from the second word group.The information providing method includes the following steps. A firstword extracting step is included in which a first word extraction unitextracts the first word from the first word group. A second wordextracting step is included in which a second word extraction unitextracts the second word corresponding to the extracted first word fromthe second word group. A step is included of storing a new word in thesecond word group based on a result of voice recognition of contentspoken by a speaker at a meeting at which the first word and the secondword are presented.

(3) A non-transitory recording medium according to an aspect of thedisclosure stores a program for a computer of an information providingdevice. The information providing device has a first memory unit storinga first word group composed of at least one first word, a second memoryunit storing a second word group, a sound collection unit, and a voicerecognition unit recognizing a collected voice signal, wherein the firstmemory unit stores a word group of a discussion theme in the first wordgroup, the second memory unit stores a word group corresponding to thefirst word in the second word group, and the information providingdevice presents the first word extracted from the first word group and asecond word extracted from the second word group. The program causes thecomputer to execute the following steps. A first word extracting step isexecuted of extracting the first word from the first word group. Asecond word extracting step is executed of extracting the second wordcorresponding to the extracted first word from the second word group. Anew word is stored in the second word group based on a result of voicerecognition of content spoken by a speaker at a meeting at which thefirst word and the second word are presented.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a configuration example of an information providingdevice according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a word of a first word group and asecond word group according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a first word and a second wordpresented on a display unit of the information providing deviceaccording to the present embodiment.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of the first word group stored in a firstmemory unit according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of the second word group stored in asecond memory unit according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an example of a processing procedure forregistering the second word group in the second memory unit according tothe present embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an example of a procedure for extracting aword derived from a minutes created when the first word and the secondword are presented according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example of information stored in the second memoryunit in a first modification.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example in which a pattern of minutes informationis extracted by a data mining method in a second modification.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

(4) In the information providing device according to an aspect of thedisclosure, the word extraction unit may store a word derived by thepresentation of the first word and the second word in the second wordgroup.

(5) In the information providing device according to an aspect of thedisclosure, the word extraction unit may store a word used in a processof deriving the derived word in the second word group.

(6) In the information providing device according to an aspect of thedisclosure, the word extraction unit extracts by data mining, from aminutes of the meeting at which the first word and the second word arepresented, a word reached as a conclusion of the meeting, and stores theextracted word in the second word group.

(7) In the information providing device according to an aspect of thedisclosure, the second memory unit may classify each word in the secondword group into a level and store the word, and the word extraction unitmay provide a word with a low level as the second word.

According to the configuration of the above (1), (2) or (3), since theword reached as the conclusion of the meeting can be extracted byperforming voice recognition of the speaker's utterance, it is possibleto assist in creating user's inspiration and improve efficiency increating inspiration.

According to the configuration of the above (4), by storing the wordreached as the conclusion of the meeting as the new word in the secondword group, the stored new word can be used for the second word at thenext meeting. Accordingly, it is possible to revitalize the creation ofuser's inspiration.

According to the configuration of the above (5), by storing the wordused in the process of deriving the word reached as the conclusion ofthe meeting as the new word in the second word group, the stored newword can be used for the second word at the next meeting. Accordingly,it is possible to revitalize the creation of user's inspiration.

According to the configuration of the above (6), it is easier for theuser to bring even more new words to mind.

According to the configuration of the above (7), by presenting thesecond word with a low use frequency, an idea unexpected by the user canbe obtained.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the disclosure is explained with referenceto the drawings.

FIG. 1 illustrates a configuration example of an information providingdevice 1 according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, theinformation providing device 1 includes a first memory unit 101, a firstword extraction unit 102, a second memory unit 103, a second wordextraction unit 104 (word extraction unit), a communication unit 105, animage generation unit 106, an acquisition unit 107, a voice recognitiondictionary database (DB) 108, a voice recognition unit 109, a textconverter 110, a dependency analyzer 111, a minutes creation unit 112,and a minutes memory unit 113. A display unit 21, a sound collectionunit 22, and an operation unit 23 are connected to the informationproviding device 1.

The display unit 21 is a liquid crystal display device, an organicelectroluminescence (EL) display device, an electronic ink displaydevice, or the like. The display unit 21 displays an image output by theimage generation unit 106.

The sound collection unit 22 is a microphone. The sound collection unit22 collects a voice signal and outputs the collected voice signal to theacquisition unit 107. In the case where there are a plurality ofparticipants in a meeting, the sound collection unit 22 is used for eachuser.

The operation unit 23 is a keyboard, a mouse, a tablet, a touch panelsensor, or the like. The operation unit 23 detects an operation resultof the user's operation, and outputs the detected operation result tothe first word extraction unit 102. The operation unit 23 may beconnected to the information providing device 1 via a wireless network.In this case, the operation unit 23 may be a tablet terminal, asmartphone or the like.

The first memory unit 101 stores a first word group composed of aplurality of words. The plurality of words stored in the first memoryunit 101 are, for example, discussion themes.

The first word extraction unit 102 acquires a plurality of words basedon the detection result output by the operation unit 23, and stores theacquired words in the first memory unit 101. The first word extractionunit 102 may perform voice recognition of an uttered voice signal so asto acquire a plurality of words. In this case, the first word extractionunit 102 acquires a plurality of pieces of text information output bythe dependency analyzer 111, and stores the acquired plurality of piecesof text information as the first word group in the first memory unit101. The first word extraction unit 102 extracts one word from the firstword group stored in the first memory unit 101, and outputs theextracted word as a first word to the second word extraction unit 104and the image generation unit 106.

The second memory unit 103 stores a second word group composed of aplurality of words. In the case where there are a plurality of wordsstored in the first word group, the second memory unit 103 stores thesecond word group for each word stored in the first word group.Specifically, the second memory unit 103 stores the second word group(1) corresponding to a word (1) for the word (1). The second memory unit103 stores the second word group (2) corresponding to a word (2) for theword (2). In addition, minutes information includes informationindicating date and time when a discussion is made, a presented firstword, and a presented second word. The minutes information may alsoinclude information (name or identification information) indicatingparticipants who participate in the discussion.

The second word extraction unit 104 extracts one word from the secondword group stored in the second memory unit 103, and outputs theextracted word as the second word to the image generation unit 106.

In addition, the second word extraction unit 104 acquires the first wordoutput by the first word extraction unit 102. The second word extractionunit 104 searches and acquires a plurality of words corresponding to theacquired first word from, for example, the Internet, via thecommunication unit 105, and stores the acquired words in the secondmemory unit 103. For example, the second word extraction unit 104searches for the first word using a search engine on the Internet andacquires a word. Alternatively, the second word extraction unit 104acquires a plurality of pieces of text information output by thedependency analyzer 111, and stores the acquired plurality of pieces oftext information as a plurality of words in the second memory unit 103.The plurality of words acquired by voice recognition are a plurality ofwords corresponding to the words stored in the first word group. In thisway, the second word extraction unit 104 stores, in advance, theplurality of words corresponding to the words stored in the first wordgroup as the second word group in the second memory unit 103.

Furthermore, the second word extraction unit 104 reads, from the minutesmemory unit 113, a minutes of a meeting held by presenting the firstword and the second word. The second word extraction unit 104 extracts aconclusion of the meeting as the second word, and stores the extractedsecond word as one of the second word group in the second memory unit103.

The communication unit 105 is a wireless communication unit or a wiredcommunication unit. The communication unit 105 connects to a networkaccording to an instruction from the second word extraction unit 104.The communication unit 105 acquires the searched word and outputs theacquired word to the second word extraction unit 104.

The image generation unit 106 generates the first word output by thefirst word extraction unit 102 and the second word output by the secondword extraction unit 104 as one image and outputs it to the display unit21. The image output to the display unit 21 includes a text image of thefirst word and a text image of the second word.

The acquisition unit 107 acquires the voice signal output by the soundcollection unit 22. The acquisition unit 107 converts an acquired analogvoice signal into a digital signal and outputs the converted voicesignal to the voice recognition unit 109.

The voice recognition dictionary database 108 is a database in which,for example, an acoustic model, a language model, a word dictionary andso on are stored. The acoustic model refers to a model based on afeature quantity of a sound; the language model refers to a model ofinformation of words and their arrangement. In addition, the worddictionary refers to a dictionary based on a large amount of vocabulary,and is, for example, a large vocabulary word dictionary.

The voice recognition unit 109 acquires the voice signal output by theacquisition unit 107. The voice recognition unit 109 detects a voicesignal of an utterance section from the voice signal output by theacquisition unit 107. For detection of the utterance section, forexample, a voice signal having a predetermined threshold value orgreater is detected as the utterance section. Moreover, the voicerecognition unit 109 may detect the utterance section using otherwell-known methods. The voice recognition unit 109 performs voicerecognition on the detected voice signal of the utterance section usinga well-known method with reference to the voice recognition dictionarydatabase 108. The voice recognition unit 109 performs voice recognitionusing, for example, a method disclosed in Japanese Laid-open No.2015-64554, or the like. The voice recognition unit 109 outputs arecognized recognition result to the text converter 110. Moreover, thevoice recognition unit 109 outputs the recognition result and the voicesignal, for example, for each sentence or for each utterance section.

The text converter 110 converts the recognition result output by thevoice recognition unit 109 into text with reference to the voicerecognition dictionary database 108. The text converter 110 outputs theconverted text information to the dependency analyzer 111. The textconverter 110 may delete interjections such as “ah,” “uh,” “huh,” “well”and so on and then convert the recognition result into text.

The dependency analyzer 111 carries out morphological analysis anddependency analysis on the text information output by the text converter110 with reference to the voice recognition dictionary database 108. Forthe dependency analysis, for example, support vector machines (SVMs) areused in a shift-reduce method, or a spanning tree method, or a stepwiseapplication method of chunk identification. The dependency analyzer 111outputs the text information output by the text converter 110 and aresult of the dependency analysis to the minutes creation unit 112.

In addition, the dependency analyzer 111 removes interjections and so onbased on the result of the dependency analysis and then extracts words.When storing the first word group in the first memory unit 101, thedependency analyzer 111 outputs the extracted words to the first wordextraction unit 102. When storing the second word group in the secondmemory unit 103, the dependency analyzer 111 outputs the extracted wordsto the second word extraction unit 104.

The minutes creation unit 112 creates a minutes based on the textinformation output by the dependency analyzer 111 and stores minutesinformation of the created minutes in the minutes memory unit 113. Theminutes creation unit 112 may store a voice signal related to theminutes information of the created minutes in the minutes memory unit113. The minutes creation unit 112 may delete the interjections such as“ah,” “uh,” “huh,” “well” and so on, so as to create the minutes.

The minutes memory unit 113 stores the minutes information of theminutes created by the minutes creation unit 112. Moreover, the minutesmemory unit 113 may also store the voice signal of the meeting inassociation with the minutes information.

In the case where there are a plurality of participants in the meeting,the information providing device 1 may include, for example, theacquisition unit 107 for each sound collection unit 22. Alternatively,the acquisition unit 107 may acquire the voice signal output by eachsound collection unit 22 by time division processing. In addition, theinformation providing device 1 performs voice recognition processing ona plurality of acquired voice signals for each sound collection unit 22,i.e., for each speaker.

Next, an example of the word of the first word group and the second wordgroup is explained.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of the word of the first word group andthe second word group according to the present embodiment. The sign g11indicates an example of the word of the first word group. The sign g12indicates an example of the second word group.

The word of the first word group is a word (set word) set by the user.In the example shown in FIG. 2, the word of the first word group is“ski.” The word of the first word group is a word extracted from thefirst word group set by the user by inputting by operating the operationunit 23 or by performing voice recognition on the user's utterance. Whenthe information providing device 1 is used, at least one word is storedas the first word group in the first memory unit 101. In the case wherethe first word group is one word, the user may utter and input one wordas the first word or may operate the operation unit 23 to set the firstword. In this case, the first word extraction unit 102 may set the firstword based on a result of voice recognition or a result of operation ofthe operation unit 23, without extracting words from the first memoryunit 101.

The second word group corresponds to the first word. In the exampleshown in FIG. 2, the second word group is “hot spring, mountaineering,drive.” The second word is set, for example, by performing voicerecognition on the user's utterance. After at least one second wordgroup is stored in the second memory unit 103, use of the informationproviding device 1 is started.

Next, an example of a procedure for using the information providingdevice 1 is explained.

-   (i) Step 1: The information providing device 1 stores at least one    first word in the first memory unit 101 based on the result obtained    by the user operating the operation unit 23.-   (ii) Step 2: The information providing device 1 performs voice    recognition on the user's utterance, and stores at least one second    word group in the second memory unit 103.-   (iii) Step 3: The information providing device 1 extracts one word    (first word) from the first word group stored in the first memory    unit 101. The information providing device 1 extracts one word    (second word) corresponding to the first word from the second word    group stored in the second memory unit 103. The information    providing device 1 displays the first word and the second word on    the display unit 21.-   (iv) Step 4: The user looks at the first word and the second word    presented by the information providing device 1, and utters a word    or the like that comes to mind Moreover, there may be one user or a    plurality of users. The information providing device 1 performs    voice recognition processing and so on on the user's utterance and    creates a minutes.-   (v) Step 5: The information providing device 1 extracts a word    derived as a conclusion from the minutes. The information providing    device 1 stores the extracted word as the second word in second    memory unit 103.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of the first word and the second wordpresented on the display unit 21 of the information providing device 1according to the present embodiment. The sign g21 indicates an imagedisplayed on the display unit 21. The sign g22 indicates an image of thefirst word. The sign g23 indicates an image of the second word. Thedisplay on the display unit 21 is an example and the disclosure is notlimited thereto. For example, in the case where the first word is adiscussion theme, the information providing device 1 may further displayan image of the characters “discussion theme” in the image of the signg22.

In the example shown in FIG. 3, the information providing device 1extracts or sets “ski” as the first word, extracts “hot spring” as thesecond word corresponding to the first word, and presents the first wordand the second word.

The presentation example of the first word and the second word shown inFIG. 3 is an example and the disclosure is not limited thereto. Theinformation providing device 1 may present the first word and the secondword by arranging them vertically side by side, or may present themtogether with colors corresponding to each word as described in JapanesePatent Application No. 2017-157611, or may present each word byanimation as described in Japanese Patent Application No. 2017-157611.

The user looks at the two words “ski” and “hot spring” presented in thisway and utters a word that comes to mind from these two words. It isassumed that the words that the user is about to utter include, forexample, “Zao,” “party,” “night game” and so on. Then, the user selectsa conclusion word (derived word) from these uttered words. Assuming thatthe conclusion word is, for example, “Zao,” in this case, theinformation providing device 1 extracts “Zao” as the conclusion wordfrom a minutes of a discussion about ski, and stores the extracted word“Zao” as the second word in the second memory unit 103. A conclusion maybe determined as follows. In the case where a predetermined phrase, forexample, is uttered in the discussion process, it is determined that theconclusion is reached. The predetermined phrase refers to, for example,“that's right” or “that's it!” These phrases are stored in the voicerecognition dictionary database 108.

The information providing device 1 may weight the new second wordobtained when the first word and second word are presented in this wayand store it in the second memory unit 103. Moreover, the conclusionword may not only be a word recognized by voice recognition but may alsobe a word obtained by text input.

Next, an example of the first word group stored in the first memory unit101 is explained.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of the first word group stored in thefirst memory unit 101 according to the present embodiment. As shown inFIG. 4, the first memory unit 101 stores a plurality of words as thefirst word group. In the example shown in FIG. 4, the words stored inthe first memory unit 101 include “ski,” “tennis,” “curling” and so on.The first word group is “ski, tennis, curling, etc.”

Next, an example of the second word group stored in the second memoryunit 103 is explained.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of the second word group stored in thesecond memory unit 103 according to the present embodiment. As shown inFIG. 5, the second memory unit 103 stores a plurality of words as thesecond word group. In addition, the second memory unit 103 stores thesecond word group in association with the words stored in the firstmemory unit 101. In the example shown in FIG. 5, the words stored in thesecond memory unit 103 that are associated with the word “ski” stored inthe first memory unit 101 include “hot spring,” “mountaineering,”“drive” and so on. In addition, the second word group is “hot spring,mountaineering, drive, etc.” The words stored in the second memory unit103 that are associated with the word “curling” stored in the firstmemory unit 101 include “stone,” “brush,” “sweeping” and so on. Inaddition, the second word group is “stone, brush, sweeping, etc.”

For example, in the case where “sweeping” is selected as a new word whenthe first word “curling” and the second word “stone” are presented, thesecond word extraction unit 104 associates “sweeping” with the firstword “curling” and adds the word to the second word group. In this case,the second word extraction unit 104 may add a weight of, for example,1.5, to the selected word “sweeping” and then store it.

Next, an example of a processing procedure for registering the secondword group in the second memory unit 103 is explained.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an example of a processing procedure forregistering the second word group in the second memory unit 103according to the present embodiment.

(Step S1) The voice recognition unit 109 performs voice recognitionprocessing on a voice signal collected by the sound collection unit 22and acquired by the acquisition unit 107, using the voice recognitiondictionary database 108. Subsequently, the text converter 110 converts arecognition result output by the voice recognition unit 109 into textwith reference to the voice recognition dictionary database 108.

(Step S2) The dependency analyzer 111 carries out morphological analysisand dependency analysis (also called morphological analysis) on textinformation output by the text converter 110.

(Step S3) The second word extraction unit 104 acquires a word (noun)from the utterance.

(Step S4) The second word extraction unit 104 puts the acquired word inthe second word group and stores the acquired word in the second memoryunit 103.

In the example shown in FIG. 6, an example has been explained in whichthe second word group is registered in the second memory unit 103 byutterance. However, the registration may also be performed based on aresult obtained by the user operating the operation unit 23.

Next, an example of a procedure for extracting a word derived from aminutes created when the first word and the second word are presented isexplained.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an example of the procedure for extractinga word derived from the minutes created when the first word and thesecond word are presented according to the present embodiment.

(Step S11) The first word extraction unit 102 extracts one word as thefirst word from the first word group stored in the first memory unit101.

(Step S12) The second word extraction unit 104 extracts one wordcorresponding to the first word as the second word from the second wordgroup stored in the second memory unit 103.

(Step S13) The information providing device 1 presents the first wordand the second word.

(Step S14) The user looks at the presented first word and second wordand utters a word that comes to mind. The information providing device 1performs voice recognition, text conversion and dependency analysis onan uttered voice, creates a minutes and stores it in the minutes memoryunit 113. Moreover, the information providing device 1 may perform theabove processing on the voice signal acquired by the acquisition unit107 on line or offline.

(Step S15) The second word extraction unit 104 reads minutes informationstored in the minutes memory unit 113. In the case where a plurality ofpieces of minutes information are stored in the minutes memory unit 113,the information providing device 1 displays, on the display unit 21,information (creation date and time, and the presented first word andsecond word) relating to the stored plurality of pieces of minutesinformation in a form of, for example, a list. The user may look at thedisplayed list and select a minutes from which the derived word isintended to be extracted by operating the operation unit or byutterance. In this case, the information providing device 1 recognizes aselection result by performing voice recognition or the like on theutterance. The information providing device 1 may read the minutesinformation selected in this way.

(Step S16) The second word extraction unit 104 selects a conclusion word(derived word) from the read minutes information. A conclusion may bedetermined as follows. In the case where a predetermined phrase, forexample, is uttered in a discussion process, it is determined that theconclusion is reached.

(Step S17) The second word extraction unit 104 acquires the first wordincluded in the minutes information. The second word extraction unit 104associates the selected conclusion word with the acquired first word,puts it in the second word group and stores it in the second memory unit103.

The conclusion word to be acquired includes at least one word, or mayinclude two or more words. In addition, the second word extraction unit104 may add a word used in the derivation process to the second wordgroup. In this way, by also adding the word used in the derivationprocess to the second word group, even more new words can be easilybrought to mind by using this new word at the next meeting.

As described above, in the present embodiment, a word group of adiscussion theme is stored in the first word group, and the second wordgroup corresponding to the words of the first word group is stored inthe second word group. In addition, in the present embodiment, a wordnewly derived based on the content spoken by a speaker at a meeting whenone first word selected from the first word group and one second wordselected from the second word group that corresponds to the first wordare presented may be stored in the second word group. Alternatively, inthe present embodiment, a word newly derived based on the content spokenby the speaker at the meeting when a set first word and one second wordcorresponding to the first word and selected from the second word groupare presented may be stored in the second word group.

Accordingly, according to the present embodiment, based on two presentedwords, the user can discuss a new word, and a word derived from thediscussion can be stored as the new word in the second word group.According to the present embodiment, after this new word is derived,since a discussion can be made using the derived word and thecorresponding first word, efficiency in creating inspiration can beimproved.

Also, by storing the word derived as the conclusion of the meeting asthe new word in the second word group, the stored new word can be usedfor the second word at the next meeting. Accordingly, it is possible torevitalize the creation of user's inspiration.

First Modification

In the above example, an example has been explained in which the secondmemory unit 103 stores a plurality of words as the second word group.However, the disclosure is not limited thereto. The plurality of wordsmay be assigned levels and then stored.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example of information stored in the second memoryunit 103 in a first modification. In the example shown in FIG. 8, thesecond word group corresponding to the words of the first word groupincludes AAA, BBB, CCC, DDD, EEE, FFF, GGG, HHH, III, JJJ, KKK, and LLL.In the example shown in FIG. 8, level 1 is the highest level, level 2 islower than level 1 and higher than level 3, level 3 is higher than level4, and level 4 is the lowest level. Moreover, a higher level correspondsto a larger number of times (also referred to as number of instructions)a word is extracted by the second word extraction unit 104 from thesecond word group. A lower level corresponds to a smaller number oftimes a word is extracted by the second word extraction unit 104 fromthe second word group.

As indicated by the sign g31, the words AAA, BBB and CCC are assignedlevel 1. As indicated by the sign g32, the words DDD, EEE and FFF areassigned level 2. As indicated by the sign g33, the words GGG, HHH andIII are assigned level 3. As indicated by the sign g34, the words JJJ,KKK and LLL are assigned level 4.

In the above-described embodiment, when the first word and the secondword are presented to the user, the second word extraction unit 104, forexample, randomly extracts one word as the second word from the secondword group stored in the second memory unit 103.

In this case, the second word extraction unit 104 randomly extracts oneword from the second word group (AAA, BBB, CCC, DDD, EEE, FFF, GGG, HHH,III, JJJ, KKK, and LLL).

On the other hand, in the first modification, when the first word andthe second word are presented to the user, the second word extractionunit 104 extracts one word from the group with the lowest level from thesecond word group stored in the second memory unit 103.

In the first modification, the second word extraction unit 104 randomlyextracts one word from, for example, the group of words (JJJ, KKK, LLL)with level 4.

Herein, if a word with a large number of presentations is presented, itmay be impossible to obtain an idea unexpected by the user. According tothe first modification, by presenting the second word with a low usefrequency, an idea unexpected by the user can be obtained.

Second Modification

In a second modification, when words are acquired from a minutes of ameeting or a discussion, a word is selected by data mining.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example in which a pattern of minutes informationis extracted by a data mining method in the second modification.

By reading the minutes information stored in the minutes memory unit 113and analyzing correlations, rules and so on of the uttered words withrespect to the read minutes information by the data mining method, thesecond word extraction unit 104 analyzes a pattern of the uttered words.The method used is, for example, knowledge discovery (search) datamining, or hypothesis verification (purpose-oriented) data mining. Thepattern analyzed in this way is the pattern in FIG. 9. In FIG. 9, it isassumed that “sixth word,” for example, is the conclusion word. Thesecond word extraction unit 104 stores a model used for data mininganalysis.

The user utters a word that they thought of freely. Then, the secondword extraction unit 104 selects a word from the minutes information bya data mining method. Accordingly, according to the second modification,it is easier for the user to bring even more new words to mind.

Also, in this case, the second word extraction unit 104 is capable ofadding an estimated word to the second word group and storing theestimated word in the second memory unit 103. As in the firstmodification, the information providing device 1 may classify theestimated word into a level and store it. In addition, the number of theconclusion word to be estimated by the second word extraction unit 104is not limited to one, and may be two or more. For example, in FIG. 9,in the case where a correlation between the “sixth word” and the “fifthword” is strong and the “sixth word” is detected as a derivation of the“fifth word,” the second word extraction unit 104 may add both the“sixth word” and the “fifth word” to the second word group and storethem in the second memory unit 103.

In this way, the second word extraction unit 104 may add a word used inthe derivation process to the second word group. In this way, by addingthe word used in the derivation process to the second word group, evenmore new words can be easily brought to mind by using this new word atthe next meeting.

Moreover, FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining the second modification,and a pattern obtained by analyzing the minutes information is notlimited thereto.

A program for realizing all or part of the functions of the informationproviding device 1 in the disclosure may be recorded on acomputer-readable recording medium, and all or part of the processingperformed by the information providing device 1 may be performed byhaving a computer system read and execute the program recorded on therecording medium. The “computer system” mentioned here includes an OS orhardware such as peripheral devices. In addition, the “computer system”also includes a WWW system having a homepage providing environment (ordisplay environment). The “computer-readable recording medium” refers toa memory device, such as a portable medium such as a flexible disk, amagneto-optical disk, a ROM and a CD-ROM, or a hard disk built in thecomputer system, and so on. Furthermore, the “computer-readablerecording medium” also includes those holding a program for a fixedtime, such as a volatile memory (RAM) in the computer system serving asa server or a client in the case where the program is transmitted via anetwork such as the Internet or a communication line such as a telephoneline.

The above program may be transmitted from a computer system in which theprogram is stored in the memory device or the like to another computersystem via a transmission medium or by a transmission wave in thetransmission medium. Herein, the “transmission medium” that transmitsthe program refers to a medium having a function of transmittinginformation, like a network (communication network) such as the Internetor a communication line such as a telephone line. The above program maybe for realizing part of the aforementioned functions. Furthermore, theabove program may be a so-called differential file (differentialprogram) capable of realizing the aforementioned functions bycombination with a program already recorded in the computer system.

What is claimed is:
 1. An information providing device presenting afirst word extracted from a first word group and a second word extractedfrom a second word group, the information providing device comprising: afirst memory unit storing the first word group; a second memory unitstoring the second word group; a word extraction unit extracting a wordfrom the second word group as the second word; a sound collection unitcollecting a voice signal; and a voice recognition unit performing voicerecognition on the collected voice signal, wherein the first memory unitstores a word group of a discussion theme in the first word group; thesecond memory unit stores a word group corresponding to the first wordin the second word group, and the word extraction unit stores a new wordin the second word group based on a result of voice recognition ofcontent spoken by a speaker at a meeting at which the first word and thesecond word are presented.
 2. The information providing device accordingto claim 1, wherein the word extraction unit stores a word derived bythe presentation of the first word and the second word in the secondword group.
 3. The information providing device according to claim 2,wherein the word extraction unit stores a word used in a process ofderiving the derived word in the second word group.
 4. The informationproviding device according to claim 1, wherein the word extraction unitextracts a word reached as a conclusion of the meeting from minutes ofthe meeting at which the first word and the second word are presentedusing data mining, and stores the extracted word in the second wordgroup.
 5. The information providing device according to claim 1, whereinthe second memory unit classifies each word in the second word groupinto a level and stores the word, and the word extraction unit providesa word with a low level as the second word.
 6. An information providingmethod in an information providing device, the information providingdevice having a first memory unit storing a first word group comprisingat least one first word, a second memory unit storing a second wordgroup, a sound collection unit, and a voice recognition unit recognizinga collected voice signal, wherein the first memory unit stores a wordgroup of a discussion theme in the first word group, the second memoryunit stores a word group corresponding to the first word in the secondword group, and the information providing device presents the first wordextracted from the first word group and a second word extracted from thesecond word group, wherein the information providing method comprises: afirst word extracting step of extracting a word as the first word fromthe first word group by a first word extraction unit; a second wordextracting step of extracting a word corresponding to the extractedfirst word as the second word from the second word group by a secondword extraction unit; and a step of storing a new word in the secondword group based on a result of voice recognition of content spoken by aspeaker at a meeting at which the first word and the second word arepresented by the second word extraction unit.
 7. A non-transitoryrecording medium storing a program for a computer of an informationproviding device, the information providing device having a first memoryunit storing a first word group comprising at least one first word, asecond memory unit storing a second word group, a sound collection unit,and a voice recognition unit recognizing a collected voice signal,wherein the first memory unit stores a word group of a discussion themein the first word group, the second memory unit stores a word groupcorresponding to the first word in the second word group, and theinformation providing device presents the first word extracted from thefirst word group and a second word extracted from the second word group,wherein the program causes the computer to execute: a first wordextracting step of extracting a word as the first word from the firstword group; a second word extracting step of extracting a wordcorresponding to the extracted first word as the second word from thesecond word group; and a step of storing a new word in the second wordgroup based on a result of voice recognition of content spoken by aspeaker at a meeting at which the first word and the second word arepresented.
 8. The information providing device according to claim 2,wherein the second memory unit classifies each word in the second wordgroup into a level and stores the word, and the word extraction unitprovides a word with a low level as the second word.
 9. The informationproviding device according to claim 3, wherein the second memory unitclassifies each word in the second word group into a level and storesthe word, and the word extraction unit provides a word with a low levelas the second word.
 10. The information providing device according toclaim 4, wherein the second memory unit classifies each word in thesecond word group into a level and stores the word, and the wordextraction unit provides a word with a low level as the second word.